Comparing Digital Modulation Schemes in RF Receivers for Bit Errors Induced by Single-Event Transients in the Low Noise Amplifier

Standard digital modulation schemes are compared for receiver-level SEU sensitivity. SETs on the wideband SiGe LNA carrying OOK, BPSK, and 2-FSK modulated data were induced using laser pulses. Both the modulation scheme and its detection method had a significant impact on the SEU sensitivity of the receiver. The SET sensitivity and noise sensitivity of the modulation schemes and demodulation techniques were correlated. Therefore, designing a receiver to be more robust to noise inherently makes it more robust to SETs. For space missions that anticipate a high flux of radiation, taking SETs into account when choosing the RF modulation scheme and the demodulation method may be important to avoid underestimating the total BER when other system trade-offs are compared against the system BER.